Eli Lilly to Offer Lower Price Alternatives for Two Additional Insulin Products

January 14, 2020 – Drug manufacturer Eli Lilly has announced that it will offer lower price versions of its brand name insulin products Humalog® Mix75/25TM KwikPen® (insulin lispro protamine/insulin lispro injectable suspension 100 units/mL) and Humalog® Junior KwikPen® (insulin lispro injection 100 units/mL). The announcement comes approximately eight months after the launch of Eli Lilly’s lower price version of Humalog® (insulin lispro injection 100 units/mL), which is distributed under the name Insulin Lispro Injection (100 units/mL).

Humalog, Humalog Mix75/25, and Humalog Junior account for more than 90% of the mealtime insulin prescriptions written for an Eli Lilly product. All are indicated to improve glycemic control in patients who have diabetes mellitus. Patients who have diabetes either cannot make enough insulin or are unable to use the insulin their body makes effectively. This can cause dangerous increases in blood glucose levels (poor glycemic control). While some patients who have type 2 diabetes can manage their disease without the aid of insulin products, patients who have type 1 diabetes must take insulin daily to survive.

Like Insulin Lispro Injection, the lower cost versions of Humalog Mix75/25 and Humalog Junior will be sold at a 50% discount to the brand name products, based on the list price. The lower cost versions will be available under the names Insulin Lispro Injection Junior KwikPen® (100 units/mL) and Insulin Lispro Protamine and Insulin Lispro Injectable Suspension Mix75/25TM KwikPen® (100 units/mL). Both will have a wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) of $265.20 per package of five KwikPens.

Eli Lilly’s lower cost versions of Humalog Mix75/25 and Humalog Junior are molecularly identical to the brand name products. Recommended dosing varies based on individual patient factors, such as metabolic needs, blood glucose test results, and glycemic control objectives. The products can be self-administered or administered by a caregiver via subcutaneous injection.

A launch date has not yet been announced.